Coming up at six oclock, breakfast with Louise Minchin and rogerjohnson but now its time for a look back at the week in parliament. Hello and welcome to the week in parliament. As the reshuffle derails some cabinet careers, its full steam ahead for the h52 express. And a sign to the world that in the 21st century, this United Kingdom still has the vision to dream big dreams and the courage to bring those dreams about. Will new rules on bullying stop mps treating commons staff like this . That member then found me in a remote corridor in the house of commons later that day, shouted at me, sort of basically pinned me against the wall, did the whole, you know, dont you know who i am, how long have i been here, what do you think youre doing . And a new play explores the political deals behind britains abolition of slavery. And i think it is about time that the public really knew what went into the abolition act and what wasnt really delivered. But first, lets be honest, some people thought westminster life would be a bit dull after borisjohnsons crushing election victory and mps voting to get brexit done. How wrong they we were. Its true we no longer have the knife edge votes of the may years or the serial government defeats and ministerial resignations, but theres no shortage of Political Drama at the moment. The new cabinet met on friday. Many of those faces around the table were familiar, some less so. More striking were the absentees, chief among them the former chancellor. On thursday, sajid javid quit afterjust seven months in the job. He refused to accept borisjohnsons terms for staying on to fire his advisers. Several other cabinet ministers also lost theirjobs, including julian smith only weeks after the Northern Ireland secretary played a key role in restoring devolution to stormont. Questions for the minister from the department for digital media, culture and sport, robert courts. As the drama unfolded, parliamentary life continued as usual. There was culture questions minus the outgoing culture secretary, lady morgan, whos now a peer. 0ral questions, attorney general, alex norris. And attorney general questions without the attorney general. Geoffrey cox was among the reshuffle casualties. Others were not taking their survival chances for granted. I look forward to working with him and his committee, i hope, in this. In this important. Ill put my phone on speaker on the dispatch box mps well, some of them finally caught up with the news during questions to the leader of the commons. Given the events of the day, i suppose we should congratulate the leader of the house for surviving the current cabinet cull that is under way, at least thus far. We should be grateful that our business is led by someone who has proven his indispensability to the Prime Minister. Mr speaker, i am most grateful to the honourable gentleman for his gracious welcome on my continuing presence here. If i am suddenly called away, i am sure my honourable friend will be more than able to take over throughout the rest of the session. Can we have a statement on the surprising news that the chancellor of the exchequer has been sacked . Mr speaker, madam deputy speaker, the honourable gentleman is ahead of me on the news cycle. Later, a government whip in a rare speaking role tried to lower the tension among his ambitious colleagues. Weve had this debate today with a little bit of news going on in the background in the reshuffle. I am sure that many of my honourable and right honourable friends have been waiting eagerly by their phones for that call. Ilike to. I want to make sure that people dont have that impression of me so illjust leave that there. The only thing i can see at the moment is a missed call from my mother. I suspect the call from your mother was asking has boris rung yet . Sorry, mrs andrew, no, he hasnt. Not yet. But fret not, mrs andrew, the call finally came and Stuart Andrew was promoted to become the new government deputy chief whip. One of the reshuffle changes will see a new full time minister for the controversial high speed hs2 rail link. Its already years late, billions over budget and rather unpopular with more than a few conservative mps. But borisjohnson says it will now go ahead. The Prime Minister said it had been a difficult decision but he would draw a line under poor management of the scheme so far. The first phase of the route will travel between london and birmingham, with a second phase going to manchester and leeds. Before donning the obligatory hi vis jacket, he presented the package to mps as part of a public transport revolution, with £5 billion promised over five years to improve bus and Cycling Services in england. 0n high speed rail, he said his generation faced a choice. We can try to get by with the existing routes from north to south, we can consign the next generation to overcrowding, standing up in the carriageways, or we can have the guts to take a decision. No matter how difficult. Unlike the party opposite, by the way, mr speaker. No matter how difficult and how controversial, that will deliver prosperity to every part of the country. So, today, mr speaker, the cabinet has given high speed rail the green signal. We are going to get this done. And to ensure that we do so without further blow outs on cost or schedule, we are today taking the Decisive Action to restore discipline to the programme. Besides hs2, he said railways in the north of england would be improved, part of a wider transport revolution featuring electric buses, Driverless Cars and new networks of cycle paths. This government will deliver a new anatomy of british transport, a revolution in this nations public transport provision, and a sign to the world that in the 21st century, this United Kingdom still has the vision to dream big dreams and the courage to bring those dreams about, and i commend this statement to the house. The labour leader supported rail and bus improvements but questioned whether Boris Johnsons government could deliver. It is a government that has proved itself unable to manage Infrastructure Projects properly and incapable of keeping a lid on the costs. Todays piecemeal announcements dont add up to a serious plan to rebalance the economy or to tackle the serious Climate Emergency that we all face. And he looked at Boris Johnsons own record. Mr speaker, the Prime Minister is clearly fond of announcing big shiny projects. Like the scheme to build a bridge over the irish sea. Why not go the whole hog and make it a garden bridge . Connect it to an airport in the sea. It stands as much chance of actually being built as any of those failed projects by the former mayor of london put forward. The saddest thing, mr speaker, about todays announcement is the high likelihood that so much of it wont be delivered. Hs2 is a dire reflection on this governments environmental credentials, with the destruction of 100 ancient woodlands and a miserably small modal shift ofjust 5 of passengers who would otherwise fly or drive. Many conservative mps are unhappy with the plan but the opposition in the commons was muted. Would my right honourable friend agree with me that it is very, very important that as hs2 is now going ahead that we also compensate well those people in my constituency and his, and his who will be affected by hs2. Mr speaker, the short answer to that is of course. Hs2 is unloved, unwanted, and has been grossly mismanaged. It very adversely affects my constituents. Does the Prime Minister appreciate my and my constituents concerns that this could well be an albatross around this governments and the countrys neck moving forward, and doesnt it set the bar very low for the future delivery of Infrastructure Projects on time and on budget by future governments . Mr speaker, every great Infrastructure Project is opposed by the people at this stage. The m25 had 39 separate planning. The treasury, i seem to remember delivering the olympics and the problems with crossrail. Every single Infrastructure Project is opposed at this critical moment. Weve got to have the guts and the foresight to drive it through. The Prime Minister, who says the first hs2 trains could be running within 10 years. Complaints about bullying and Sexual Harassment by mps are to be handled differently in whats been described as a Seismic Shift for staff. The new system will be completely independent of mps, with an expert panel replacing the committee of mps that currently has the final say on action taken. The plan follows the recommendations of the retired high courtjudge, Dame Laura Cox whose report on bullying in parliament was published in 2018. I asked dr hannah white of the institute for government, whos a former commons clerk, how the system works at the moment. There is a new system which has been in place for a couple of years now and fundamentally what happens is there is an independent officer called the parliamentary commissioner for standards. She oversees an investigation of a complaint that is made and she can determine some lower level sanctions against an mp if it is something that is not deemed to be very serious but if there is a more serious complaint, that will go to the committee on standards, which is a committee made up half of mps and half lay members, and they get to decide what the sanction should be against an mp. So, what is the big difference the new system will make . The new system, which is out for consultation, would find that you have an independent panel of experts and the most serious complaints, the most serious allegations where the commissioner does an investigation and says, i think there would be as a serious sanction for this, so either suspension of an mp from the house, or possibly their expulsion from the house, then, that would go to that Expert Committee and that committee would be completely independent, it wouldnt involve any mps, and there is a question about whether it might involve a former mp, but it would be distinct so people could have confidence that mps werent involved. Everybody says this is long overdue, why hasnt it been done before . I think it has been very slow, since the sort of me too scandal, the bullying scandal first hit westminster. A number of different enquiries took place, there have been three big enquiries that have all found problems. The first one to report more than 15 months ago recommended Something Like this, recommended we needed an independent process for investigating complaints and sanctioning mps. It has been slow. The house of commons is slow about some of these things sometimes but also there have been vested interests involved, who it hasnt been in their interests to move much faster. Does the fact that the speaker has changed make a difference . It has certainly made a difference to the atmosphere around this question in westminster. It was fundamentally really difficult while john bercow was speaker of the house of commons and there are these outstanding allegations of bullying against him which havent been investigated because the committee for standards which i mentioned had decided the complains were too old so they shouldnt be investigated and i think that was really problematic because it meant he couldnt defend himself against these allegations which he denies and the people making these allegations couldnt see them investigated and that really undermined everybodys confidence that this system was being the change that needed to happen. You were a commons clerk for a long time, did you experience this bullying culture . I certainly experienced inappropriate workplace behaviour. I once had a situation when i was a new clerk, clerking a committee, i gave advice to the chair that a member should bring his remarks to a close because they were irrelevant, that member then found me in a remote corridor in the house of commons later that day, shouted at me, basically pinned me against the wall, did the whole, dont you know who i am . How long have i been here . What do you think you are doing . And i was really shaken by that. I was lucky i was never sort of subject to any campaign of bullying like some of my colleagues were but i certainly saw inappropriate behaviour. And if Something Like that happened in the future, are you more confident that somebody in your position would be able to deal with it, to get it sorted . I think there are two things. I think people will feel more confident that they can take a complaint like that and have it taken seriously but also there are definite efforts being made now to track these complaints being made. If something looks like a pattern of behaviour, then the parliamentary commissioner can take account of that when she is looking into and investigating bullying complaints. Hannah white. Emergency legislation designed to end the release of people convicted of terrorism offences halfway through their sentence has been backed by mps. The new law was drawn up after the knife attack at streatham in south london earlier this month. The perpetrator, sudesh amman, had been freed from prison 10 days earlier. The measures will apply in england, scotland and wales. Thejustice secretary explained how terrorist prisoners would be affected. There are two Main Elements to this. First, to standardise the earliest point of which they may be considered for released at two thirds of the sentence imposed and secondly, to require that the parole board assess whether they are safe to release between that point and the end of their sentence. This will apply to all terrorists and terrorist related offences with a maximum penalty above two years, including those offences for which sudesh amman was sentenced. The issue of rehabilitation, the work that is done both in prison and out of prison is so important. There has been many efforts of this over the years, but as recent incidents have seen, that has not always been with success. Does my right honourable friend agree that actually, we will never deal with this issue of terrorism until we deal with the ideology that drives it, and will he reassure me that the government is taking extra efforts to find new paths to ensure that we can turn people away from the extremism and the terrorism that takes other peoples lives . There is a constant, if you like, a self questioning amongst those responsible for these particular programmes, to make sure they are properly calibrated, that they understand the particular drivers that mean people are compelled to commit these acts. Labour supported the measure in principle. I do think the host today is entitled to ask the question as to why we have ended up requiring this law to be made via emergency legislation. Automatic Early Release is hardly new. Its been part of our system for many years and could have already been dealt with by a government that took a more strategic approach. The snp had a warning. Because im always conscious of the analogy of wasps in a jar. If you shake them all about and then you let them out, then youre going to get stung. And the bill now goes to the lords when parliament returns from its half term break the week after next. Ministers hope it will become law by the end of the month. Time now for a look at what else has been happening around westminster. And the health secretary, matt hancock, has issued new powers in england to keep people in quarantine to stop the coronavirus spreading. The department of health has described the virus as a serious and imminent threat to Public Health. Ive laid an instrument before the house to confirm the power weve taken to isolate those at risk of spreading the virus and if necessary, to keep them isolated as part of our belts and braces approach to protecting the public. The powers are proportionate and will help us slow down transmission of the virus and make it easier for nhs and Public Health staff to do theirjobs. A gp practice in brighton was temporarily closed after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. People want and need more timely and accurate information, not just about washing hands and tissue use, vital though that is, but about things like what does self isolation actually look like . I think we need a much higher profile Public Health campaign. Helen mccourts killing thirty two years ago is to lead to a new law making it harderfor murderers to be released from prison if they refuse to reveal the whereabouts of their victims body. Helens killer, ian simms, has been released despite never revealing where he hid the remains of the 22 year old. The legislation, the prisoners disclosure of information about victims bill, is known as helens law. It follows a Long Campaign from her mother, marie. Her mp paid tribute. I want to acknowledge her because it might seem a strange thing to say, madam deputy speaker, when we are discussing what i feel is a technical bill, but the genesis of us being here today and to hear the second reading is in love. It is in love of Marie Mccourt for her daughter helen. I am so proud and pleased to see her and her husband john and their close family friend fiona was on so much to see this come to fruition today. The home secretary priti patel apologised to Yvette Cooper after a conservative activist was jailed for sending threatening messages to the senior labour mp who shared details of them in the commons. Im organising, amazing what crackheads will do for £100. Im going to get her beat up. The chair of the local association has today written to me expressing regrets and apologies for what he describes as the grave and unacceptable actions of the member who has since been expelled. I welcome that letter and that support. But it is a concern to me that there has been thus far, no similar combination or sense of regret for expressed by the national party. Let me say this right now before the house, that is categorically unacceptable and wrong. There is no place for intimidation at all. She can take it from me right now, i am hugely apologetic for what she has had to endure. The former Commons Speaker john bercow has said there is a conspiracy to keep him out of the house of lords. He named no names, but said it was blindingly obvious that there was a Concerted Campaign to prevent him from being given a peerage. It means hell miss out on a rise in their lordships daily allowance. The new deliverance for unaccountable peers being stuffed into the house of lords by the Prime Minister are set to rise to £323. The monthly allowance for a Single Person over 25 on universal credit is £317. Is that the levelling up the Prime Minister keeps talking about . I hate agreeing with these people. I do find that it is odd that house of lords has chosen to do that. Borisjohnson and the snp finding something to agree on. Lets look back now at some stories from the wider world of politics. Gary connor has our countdown. Hes out. Sajid javid resigns, thes excuse was that he died. How does the Prime Ministers top adviser cummings answer a difficult question . At three, good news in Northern Ireland with the first same sex marriage taking place this week. More than five years after it became legal in england and wales. At two, going up, the price forfixing big ben. Coming in at almost £80 million. Repairs turned out to be more tricky than they thought. At one, plans to get rid of furry little visitors. It might be helpful that squirrels are extremely good to eat at three, good news in Northern Ireland with the first same sex marriage taking place this week. More than five years after it became legal in england and wales. At two, going up, the price forfixing big ben. Coming in at almost £80 million. Repairs turned out to be more tricky than they thought. At one, plans to get rid of furry little visitors. It might be helpful that squirrels are extremely good to eat gary connor. Now in 1833, parliament passed an act to abolish slavery in britains colonies. A new play for the Royal Shakespeare company, based on research in the parliamentary archives, depicts the political deals behind a measure which proved to have a long term cost. Gabrielle 0neill reports. The factory bill is the culmination of my parliamentary career to date. Isnt that what we were fighting for . He expects the general public to give us money to overfed west indian planters. In orderto end in order to end slavery. Thats far from the point ive always wanted to write about slavery and i like to find stories that fall between the cracks of history, those stories that need to be uncovered. The white this play is partly inspired by a tweet. It was 20 million at the time, which about now is about 20 billion. Its a lot of money and they could have bankrupted the country, but mortgage, the future of generations to come in order to pay this off. No serve, no. When i was five i was sold. He put me to work, he was a man who worships profit and enjoyed the use of his. The character of mercy price is based on a runaway slave, mary prince. When i was five, i was sold. He put me to work, sugarcane day and night. He enjoyed the use of his whip. She used the fact that she was a slave to tell her story and thats why she wrote her autobiography and also, im sure carried the board burdens and scars and im sure she uses of while. Used those as well. Often overlooked, the role of women in the anti slavery campaigns that was like slavery through another name. And again, i didnt learn about this at school. Its not in any School Textbook ive ever seen and i think its about time that the public really knew about the abolition act and what wasnt really delivered. May god be with you i have the lord to think for my life left to my master, i would be quite dead. Debbie korley. And the whip is at the swan theatre in Stratford Upon Avon until the 21st of march. Well worth the trip for mps and peers during their half term break. Thats it for the week in parliament. Thank you for watching. From me, david cornock, bye for now. Hello. Storm dennis continues to batter britain. Looking back at saturday, well, it was windy everywhere, wasnt it, but the strongest gust of wind was at aberdaron in the llyn peninsula, 91mph gusts recorded here. Weve all seen lots of rain as well, but the rain has been causing problems, particularly across parts of Northern England, wales, the West Midlands and south west england. Now, there are lots of flood warnings in force and the number of flood warnings continues to rise hour by hour. And with more heavy rain in the forecast, thats clearly not a good thing. Now, looking at the satellite picture, this is storm dennis. The centre actually near iceland. But its this trailing weather front stretching for a couple of thousand miles out into the atlantic thats causing problems, because the winds are blowing parallel to the front rather than across it, and that means the front gets stuck and what that means is weve got a lot more heavy rain to come as we head into the first part of sunday. Now, some of the heaviest falls of rain will be across wales, the West Midlands and south west england. If anything, the rain much heavier than we saw on saturday, for example, and there will be some heavy falls as well in Northern England at times. Given that we already have a number of flood warnings out in force, things could get really quite nasty for a time here as we head into the first part of sunday morning. Cooler air across the north west with blustery showers. Now, looking at the weather picture through the rest of sunday, our weather front tracks its way towards the south east. Now, there is a risk that this front could be slower to clear southern and eastern areas of england. In other words, there could still be quite a bit of rain left over even into the afternoon here, but its going to be a windy day everywhere. Gusts of wind again inland 50 60mph. 70 around some of our coasts, and those winds still Strong Enough to bring down an odd tree or two. So there is the risk of transport disruption whether from the flooding rain or from those very powerful gusts of wind. Showers continue to feed in across the north and western. As we go on into sunday night, if anything, the winds are going to get stronger for a time across the far north of england and scotland as the centre of dennis passes close to the north of scotland. So the winds picking up could cause some problems here for transport as we head into monday morning for scotland. As we head through the rest of monday, its a day broadly speaking of sunny spells and showers. The winds staying strong, taking a while before they ease down gradually in the afternoon, and will continue to make it feel quite chilly across these northern areas. Beyond that, it stays unsettled through the rest of the week ahead. Rain or showers in the forecast for most days and it will stay quite windy. But for most of us, it will also stay on the mild side. Temperatures up to 1a degrees for london next weekend. Thats your weather. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with Louise Minchin and rogerjohnson. 0ur headlines today tributes are paid to Television Presenter caroline flack, who was found dead at her home at the age of a0. Storm dennis lashes large parts of the uk, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. More than 250 flood warnings are in place. There are hundreds of flood warnings enforce thanks to storm dennis. Some severe flood warnings there is more rain on the way. They met office amber wanting to parts of england and wales. Northern ireland and scotla nd and wales. Northern ireland and scotland will see something brighter with some showers but it will still be windy. Details coming